PARIS, July 14, 2008 (WAFA) - Croatia’s President Stjepan Mesic said he wishes the Mediterranean to become a zone of peace, democracy, cooperation and progress.

In his speech to the summit, President Mesic said he hopes the new Mediterranean Union will go a long way in boosting the regional economy and stability following an inaugural summit in Paris. He also said that Croatia will invest efforts into actively building such a region.

In his speech to the summit, President Stjepan Mesic said he wishes the Mediterranean to become a zone of peace, democracy, cooperation and progress. He said that Croatia will invest efforts into actively building such a region.

The Mediterranean Union will be comprised of the 27 European Union nations, as well as countries in the Middle East – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the Palestine, and European nations such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Monaco.